Dragon Ball Z’s penchant for lengthy battles has taken on a life of its own in recent years. It’s not unusual for Dragon Ball to be written off as a series where fights take forever and characters power up for episodes on end. While the latter isn’t based in any reality, the former is very much true: especially the longer Dragon Ball Z goes on. By the Namek arc, Dragon Ball Z was forced to drag out some of the manga’s best fights with filler episodes – an issue the anime never really recovered from. Dragon Ball Z isn’t as slow-paced as its detractors make it out to be, but some fights overstay their welcome in the anime.